PETALING JAYA: After a peaceful demonstration by hundreds of army veterans at Tugu Negara (national monument) this morning, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim called for defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein to uphold the rights of veterans.
“I have been following the peaceful assembly by the veterans of the armed forces today.
“It is clear that they were left with no other option but to uphold their rights and air their grievances in this manner, after having failed to get the attention of the defence ministry,” the Port Dickson MP said in a Facebook post.
Anwar said Pakatan Harapan MPs had repeatedly raised the issue of veterans’ pension in the Dewan Rakyat, urging Hishammuddin to resolve this issue immediately.
“Don’t ignore the voices of the army veterans who have sacrificed a lot for the country,” he said.
Earlier today, Utusan Malaysia reported that about 500 army veterans held a peaceful assembly at Tugu Negara this morning.
The veterans said they were left with no other option but to assemble peacefully after eight years of attempting to use the right channels to air their grievances on the issue of pensions.
The veterans outlined several demands including a review of the pension rate and pension payments for those who served in the army for less than 21 years.
Currently, only members of the army who served for at least 21 years were able to get a monthly pension.
The group of veterans claimed that around 330,000 veterans were deprived of their rights, with around 135,000 of them not eligible for pension payments.
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